In Diyarbakır, southeastern Türkiye, vocational high school students are producing desks, tables and furniture in their school workshops to meet the needs of 25 new schools that will open in the city.
Deniz Işın, principal of the Diyarbakır Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, stated that the needs of six schools are being met by their school, explaining: “We are producing all the equipment for six of the 25 new schools opening this year in our school as part of a revolving fund. We practice work within education and education within work. Our students can earn at least minimum wage.”
Twenty-five new schools will open this year in Diyarbakır, and the furniture needed, including desks, tables and other items, will be manufactured in the workshops of vocational high schools. Teachers and students from Diyarbakır Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, located in the Yenişehir district, have already begun working to meet the needs of six of these schools.
Students in the school’s furniture and interior design, metal technology and machine design departments are producing all the desks, tables, teacher desks, coat racks, podium sets and boards for these schools. In this way, students gain professional skills while earning from the revolving fund and also contributing to their families.
Işın also explained that students earn at least minimum wage while contributing to the production of necessary materials. “As part of a protocol with the Provincial Directorate of National Education, we are manufacturing all the equipment needed for six of the 25 new schools opening this year. We are producing items such as desks, teacher desks and cupboards in cooperation with students from our metal and furniture departments”
He continued: “This way, we both help our students and provide them with valuable skills. Our school offers education in six fields: IT, electrical-electronics, construction, furniture and interior design, metal technology and machine design.”
Fatin Ak, head teacher of the Furniture and Interior Design Department, emphasized that they train students as skilled furniture makers. “We train our students to become skilled workers in furniture making. We show them how to work with raw materials and produce furniture together. We can produce all kinds of furniture. We obtain materials as needed from local suppliers. So far, we have produced 400 desks and chairs.”
Umut Can Demirbaş, an 11th-grade student in the Furniture Department, shared how they produce the necessary items for schools. “We are fulfilling the furniture needs of schools, such as desks, chairs and boards. Together with my friends, we work in the school’s revolving fund. Our teachers show us how to make the furniture, and then we follow their instructions. If there is an issue with the metalwork, we send it to our friends working in the metal department, and they fix it before we continue our work,” he explained.
Mahmut Can Yılmaz, an 11th-grade student in the Metal Technology Department, shared that they are both learning and working at the same time. “We work in the revolving fund to help our families. Here, we learn and work. We have a great and safe work environment. We are improving our skills in our trade. We work with welding, and we make metal parts for desks, chairs and other furniture,” he said.